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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27801400">out on the ocean, sailing away</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikola_tesla_slowburn/pseuds/nikola_tesla_slowburn'>nikola_tesla_slowburn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Community (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Love, Love Confessions, Love Letters, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, oops i wrote more trobed angst im sorry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:54:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,033</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27801400</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikola_tesla_slowburn/pseuds/nikola_tesla_slowburn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a letter. A simple letter. It has a stamp depicting the Eiffel Tower in monochromatic hues of yellow on the top right corner. Its back is covered in doodles, an alien in the corner, a bee making loops across the top, a small dog with a beret and mustache in the other corner, and a heart drawn shakily over the flap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s addressed to Abed, from Troy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annie Edison &amp; Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>out on the ocean, sailing away</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>may or may not have just spent my lunch break writing this,,,, anyways the title is from 'beautiful boy' by john lennon :"]</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s a letter. A simple letter. It has a stamp depicting the Eiffel Tower in monochromatic hues of yellow on the top right corner. Its back is covered in doodles, an alien in the corner, a bee making loops across the top, a small dog with a beret and mustache in the other corner, and a heart drawn shakily over the flap.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’s addressed to Abed, from Troy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Annie picks it up in the mail about four months after Troy leaves. She’s shuffling through junk mail when Abed hears her squeak and drop the pile of mail.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Annie? What’s wrong?” He pads across the room to take the letter out of a speechless Annie’s hands. He’s about to ask her another question when he sees who it's from. Abed can feel a small tug in his throat as he reads Troy’s name. Scrawled in his same messy handwriting. He slowly turns the envelope over, treating it like a sheet of paper-thin glass, ready to break at any moment. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The tug at the back of his throat only worsens when his eyes land on the heart drawn over the back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Abed?” Annie’s voice is careful, Abed glances up to see that she’s been staring at him, face twisted into a worried look.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s from Troy.” He manages, not trusting his voice to rise to more than a whisper without breaking.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It is.” She murmurs, eyes now fixing on the envelope Abed has clutched in his hands.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to my room.” He says quickly, shoving the letter into his pocket and rushing into his room, slamming the door behind him before Annie can protest.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hands shaking slightly, Abed places the letter down at his feet, slumping down and sitting with his back pressed to his bed, staring at the piece of paper before him. He closes his eyes and takes a breath, flexing his fingers to help bring himself back down to Earth. Finally, mustering enough courage, he slides a finger under the envelope’s flap, moving it slowly down and over so as to not damage any of Troy’s drawings and opening the top flap. Abed gently removes the letter itself and moves the envelope to the side. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The letter is written on a sheet of paper taken from what looks like a French motel. Troy’s writing fills up the entire sheet, the letters are unusually small as to fit on the page, but nevertheless, the sight of them makes Abed want to cry out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He reads the letter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And reads it again, and again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He reads it until he can feel the tears he had been holding back finally creep their way out of the corners of his eyes and fall onto the paper. He reads it until his back is sore from sitting on the ground, and his hands are shaking worse than they had before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Annie finds him later that night. He’s curled up on the carpet next to his bed, sleeping with the letter folded up in his hands. The sight makes her want to cry, but she takes a deep breath. He needs her help right now.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Quietly, Annie makes her way across the room shaking him slightly to wake him up. He gives a small groan in response, but doesn’t fight back as Annie helps him up to sit on his bed. She takes his hoodie off and places it on a chair in the corner, then moves to help get Abed settled into bed. She’s about to pull his weighted blanket over him when she spots the letter still clutched in his hand.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Abed?” She whispers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Mhm.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I’m going to set the letter on your nightstand, ok? Don’t panic, I’m not going to read it. I just don’t want you to rip it or something during the night.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” His voice is weak and barely there, but his grip loosens and Annie carefully sets it on the nightstand. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Abed is asleep now. A peak wouldn’t hurt, right?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe it could help Annie figure out what was wrong, how she could help him. She stands there for a minute, hesitating, resisting the urge to snatch the letter from where it lay and read it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>No, she finally decides, better not. He deserves his privacy. She makes her way back out into the living room, shutting the door behind her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hey Abed!!! This is from Troy, I mean, you probably already knew that because I had to write it on the outside. I tried asking the post office lady if it was required, and she said it wouldn’t be sent without it. How dumb is that? How are people supposed to send anonymous letters? Anyways, the trip has been amazing so far. I mean, it’s kind of sucked because I got seasick for like the entire first three weeks, plus you’re not here with me, but it’s gotten better. We docked in France two days ago, and have spent the past few days just exploring. We got to see the Eiffel Tower!! It was awesome, you were right though, it’s way too crowded to do any really fun homages. I think we’re going to stop in Italy next, I’m excited! But I miss you so much dude, I miss everyone but I think I miss you the most. Which kind of brings me to my next point. I’m not really sure how to say this, but I want to send you more letters, and I want to start signing those letters with ‘Love, Troy’.  And I know you hate the miscommunication trope because it’s never done correctly, so I just hope you know I mean it romantically. I love you Abed, I think I have for a while but I only just now realized. I’m sorry it has to happen this way, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Anyways, I really hope you feel the same, but I guess I can’t really know for sure until I can talk to you in person. Ok I’m running out of space and this is my last sheet of clean paper. (writing things perfectly the first time with a pen is so hard) Hopefully I can send another letter soon!!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Love, Troy </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you sm for reading!! comments + kudos are always appreciated :-)</p>
<p>my tumblr is @11horsesindrag if you want to scream about these two w me &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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